I began contributing to Apache Pinot almost a year ago. Over time, this experience not only transformed my technical abilities but also had a profound impact on my career. As I worked on performance optimizations, bug fixes, and new feature implementations, I gained insights into large-scale distributed systems that I later applied to projects in my full-time job. The challenges I faced working on Pinot sharpened my problem-solving skills and taught me how to write more efficient, maintainable code.

Moreover, contributing to Pinot helped me build a network of like-minded developers and open-source enthusiasts. The collaboration within the project exposed me to new tools, technologies, and workflows that helped shape my professional development. I was able to leverage these skills in my workplace, and my contributions to Pinot became a point of pride that impressed my colleagues and opened new opportunities for growth.

Through this talk, I want to emphasize the career-boosting potential of open-source contributions and provide a roadmap for those looking to get involved in meaningful projects like Apache Pinot. Open-source work isn't just about writing code; it's about community, learning, and accelerating your career in ways that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.